The present invention relates to a juice extractor appliance for extracting juice from various types of food articles. The invention is particularly useful with respect to the type of appliance described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,397,736 and 6,742,447, and is therefore described below with respect to such type of appliance.
The above-cited patents describe a juice extractor appliance for extracting juice from food articles, comprising: a housing having an inlet feed tube for feeding food articles into the appliance, and an outlet for outletting juice extract from such food articles; a pusher rod for manually pushing the food articles through the inlet feed tube; and a cutter disc rotatable about a central disc axis and including a plurality of cutting edges projecting from one side of the disc facing the inlet feed tube for cutting the food articles into a pulp saturated with juice when the food article is pushed against the cutter disc by the pusher rod. Such an appliance is hereinafter referred to as “an appliance of the type herein described”.
When appliances of the type herein described are used for extracting juice from various types of food articles, such as fruit, vegetables, and the like, the rotation of the cutter disc effectively cuts the food article into a pulp saturated with juice until a thin sliver of the food article remains, which firmly adheres to the cutting edges of the cutter disc and rotates with the cutter disc. When this occurs, it is usually necessary, after each use of the appliance, to remove the cutter disc and to clean away the thin sliver of food article remaining on the cutter disc.